OWEN FARRELL WAS in no mood to entertain questions over his tackle technique at today’s Six Nations launch in London following two incidents during England’s Autumn series.
The out-half escaped punishment for what many observers believed were two illegal ‘no-arms’ tackles during England’s November wins over South Africa and Australia at Twickenham.
Farrell was asked whether he would consider changing his technique in defence, to which he sternly replied: “My job is to tackle within the laws, never tried to do otherwise, so that’s what I’ll be focusing on.”
The 27-year-old, who will assume sole leadership of England in the absence of injured hooker Dylan Hartley, also provided an update on his fitness ahead of the championship opener against Ireland on 2 February.
Farrell missed Saracen’s final Heineken Champions Cup pool game against Glasgow Warriors after having an operation to repair a thumb tendon at the weekend, but said he is on course to be fit for the Aviva Stadium showdown.
“The hand is good,” he said. “I had something small done to it on the weekend. I should be training towards the end of this week. It was a gradual thing and is something small.”
When asked if he is confident of facing Ireland in Dublin, Farrell added: “I’m confident, yes.”
Perhaps tellingly, Eddie Jones has not called up another out-half as injury cover for Farrell, with George Ford the only other out-and-out 10 in England’s 36-man squad.
“I’m confident Owen’s going to play and we’ve got George there so we’re well stocked for number 10s at the moment,” the England boss said.
The one thing consistent about international rugby is the inconsistency of your squad. You work out how you’re going to play, who’s going to play and then you take it from there.
England depart for a nine-day warm-weather training camp in Portugal later, and Jones was pleased to report no major injury concerns after the latest rounds of European action.
Wasps forwards Joe Launchbury [neck], Brad Shields [side strain] and Nathan Hughes [ankle] are carrying knocks, but the Australian coach said he couldn’t provide an update on their fitness until the group convened in the Algarve.
“Obviously it’s great to have blokes like Billy and Mako [Vunipola], Joe Launchbury and Ellis Genge back, they’re great players, but those who played in the Autumn did a fantastic job,” Jones added.
“We are flying out to Portugal today — there are a couple a little bit sore from the weekend, but we’ve probably got 34 of the 36 who could train today if they needed to.”
Subscribe to our new podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42, here:
